Charges dropped against Nicolas Cage in New Orleans

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Actor Nicolas Cage has avoided prosecution in New Orleans three weeks after he was arrested following a drunken argument with his wife, People magazine reported on Thursday.

Cast member Nicolas Cage arrives for the premiere of the film "Season of the Witch" in New York in this January 4, 2011 file photo. REUTERS/Lucas Jackson

It quoted his attorney as saying that charges of domestic abuse battery, disturbing the peace and public drunkenness had been dropped.

“The New Orleans District Attorney has confirmed that no charges of any kind will be pursued against him,” Harry Rosenberg told the magazine. “After their investigation, the DAs refused all charges against Nick and the matter has been closed.”

After-hours calls to officials in New Orleans were not answered, and Cage’s publicist did not immediately reply to an email seeking further information.

The 47-year-old actor was taken into custody late on April 16 after police said he and his third wife, Alice Kim, got into an argument about the correct address of the home they were renting.

According to a statement that described him as “heavily intoxicated,” Cage began striking cars and tried to get into a taxi cab. He then yelled at police officers who promptly arrested him. There were no visible injuries to his wife.

Two days later the couple attended the wedding of Cage’s 20-year-old son, Weston, in New Orleans.

Cage, the nephew of film director Francis Ford Coppola, is best known for such films as “Raising Arizona,” “Gone in 60 Seconds” and “National Treasure.” He won an Oscar for his portrayal of a down-and-out alcoholic in the 1995 film “Leaving Las Vegas.”

But his box office fortunes have been mixed, and he has been forced to sell some of his lavish homes around the world to settle multimillion-dollar tax debts to the U.S. government.